Daily Movie Rec 6/7/2023
Mandy (2018)
"You exude a cosmic darkness."
Directed by: Panos Cosmatos
Cinematography by: Benjamin Loeb
Country: United Kingdom/Belgium/United States
Plot:
In the pine-covered Shadow Mountains of California, a psychotic cult leader with links to the unimaginable cosmos kills a woman who won't submit to him (and even worse, laughs at him), causing her now-bereaved husband to go on a bloody rampage against the self-proclaimed demigod, his minions, and the biker-gang abominations in his service.
Reasons to watch:
With its blend of pulp fantasy, action, and exploitation - unfiltered insanity and heartfelt emotion - Mandy belongs in the same realm as Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Formally, though, Mandy is much more liminal and shouldn't be watched with the same sense of high-octane spectacle as Fury Road. In that regard, it’s closer to the nightmarishly psychedelic Euro art-horror films of the 70s and 80s, full of expressionistic color palettes and dreamlike structuring, where atmosphere takes precedence over plot. [I thought it was way overhyped and overrated when I first viewed it a few years ago, but on rewatch, I think] It's a genuinely masterful mood piece, with a visionary style worthy of the likes of Dario Argento, and a brilliantly idiosyncratic contemporary spin on Lovecraftian horror.
Tubi/Shudder
Comments
Post a Comment